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Web site launched for a blind client - Miles Hilton-Barber
06 May 2004 A new Web site has just launched for the adventurer and motivational speaker, Miles Hilton-Barber. The site was designed and built by Interactive Bureau. What makes this site unusual is that it was designed for a client who is blind. Miles, who has been blind for the last 20 years, uses the Web to promote his services as a corporate motivational speaker and to maintain an up-to-date archive of his record-breaking adventures. Some recent adventures have included an attempt to be the first blind person to trek to the South Pole, breaking the World High- Altitude Record in a microlight, completing the Marathon des Sables - a running race through the Sahara over a course of 156 miles in 120 degree heat. The equivalent of running a marathon every day for six consecutive days. All of his expeditions are undertaken with sponsorship to raise money for charity. From the outset, great care was taken to ensure that the site conformed to high standards of Web accessibility. Interactive Bureau has always held the view that any public Web site needs to allow as broad a spectrum of its audiences as possible to visit and access its information easily and quickly. With the application of high quality coding and design, along with careful attention to detail, it is possible to create a site which ensures everyone has an equally rich experience of the content on offer. "Creating a separate text only site for visually-impaired visitors, has never been an option for Interactive Bureau, and when the opportunity to create a site for Miles came along we saw this as a great opportunity to demonstrate our ability in this area", said Mark Everest Interactive Bureau's Project Director. The main objective in designing the site was to create a clean and contemporary looking site which functions just as efficiently for blind / visually impaired visitors as well as sighted. Navigation is kept simple and intuitive. The large adventure image library contains fully explanatory captions to all pictures so that even the blind visitor, using a screen reader, gets detailed information about what that picture is illustrating. The next stage of development on the site will be the inclusion of selected "audio diaries" that Miles keeps on all his expeditions. These will add extra realism to the visitor, who will be able to listen to Miles' experiences "live" from the Sahara to the South Pole.
Miles Says: I have had nothing but praise and respect expressed to me from global blue-chip companies accessing the site, and booking me as a result. I am particularly pleased with their specialist knowledge of international access standards incorporated into the site. This gives fast, versatile navigation to everybody, including people like me, using a speech-output screen reading programme. I find it a real pleasure working with the Interactive Bureau team; they are professional, efficient, highly experienced, provide great personal service, and offer exceptional value. I needed a website to transform my image and business, and contacted Interactive Bureau. Job done." Testimonials for Miles Hilton-Barber "Hearing Miles speak is truly inspirational. He is living proof of the old adage "there's no such word as can't". This amazing man is an unparalleled force for motivation and I have every possible respect for his talents as a speaker as well as his incredible personal courage." Lord David Puttnam - Enigma Productions "Miles' attempt to be the first blind person to walk to the South Pole is an extreme act of courage, and I have nothing but awesome admiration for his bravery and determination." Michael Palin "I can't even imagine the difficulties of travelling in polar regions without being able to see things. I once was semi-blind in the Arctic and everything became doubly problematic. Total blindness would have been nightmarish. My admiration for Miles is enormous..." Sir Ranulph Fiennes The site conforms to W3C standards of XHTML 1.0, WAI-A, CSS Visit the site at www.mileshilton-barber.com |
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